


Once Upon a Jukebox

by IDontUnderstandThatReference



Series: Where He Belongs 'Verse [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Adorable Daniel, Alternate Universe, Bittersweet Ending, Cas Has No Idea What Went Down In That Pizza Parlor, Dean Regrets Everything, For Dean At Least, Hey Jude, Jukebox, M/M, Mpreg, Pizza Parlor, Post Mpreg, Regret, cute kid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-28
Updated: 2014-06-28
Packaged: 2018-02-04 08:04:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1771753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IDontUnderstandThatReference/pseuds/IDontUnderstandThatReference
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first Thursday of every month, twenty three year old Castiel Novak takes his seven year old son Daniel to his favorite Pizza and Ice Cream Parlor to get dinner and dessert to go before returning home for a movie marathon.</p><p>Every time they're there, Cas gives his son a dime to go put into the jukebox so he can listen to his favorite song. He never tells his dad, fearing he'd think it silly or dumb, but right after Daniel puts the dime in and before he chooses his song, he makes a wish. </p><p>It's been the same wish for the last three years; to meet his other dad, just once.</p><p>Without even knowing it, his wish comes true the moment Dean Winchester walks into the parlor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Once Upon a Jukebox

**Author's Note:**

> So this AU is sort of an AU to this 'verse, if that makes sense. I just needed some sad fluff and someone who commented on the first part of this 'verse gave me a great idea!
> 
> I don't want to confuse anyone, but this has nothing to do with the plot of So We Meet Again. In this, Daniel has never met Sam or Dean, and he didn't meet any of Castiel's siblings until he was five. So yeah, hope I didn't give anyone a headache ^__^'
> 
> Sorry for any and all mistakes, I don't own anything, including Hey Jude. I only own Daniel and this 'verse.
> 
> Oh and a warning; I have never met and conversed with a seven year old, other than occasional reading buddies when I was younger. So sorry if Daniel isn't much like a seven year old ^__^'
> 
> Leave comments and kudos please, and enjoy the story!

   The small bell hanging from the entryway gave a delightful chime as the door was eased open. It was the first Thursday of November, school has been out for two hours and it's been raining for four. A young man of average height, with dark hair and deep blue eyes holds open the door for a small boy who resembles the other male in almost every way except for the child's black rimmed glasses and freckles. The child runs in with a smile on his face, turning to the other man and bouncing on the balls of his feet.

    "Come on, Dad!" Daniel rushes towards his father and tugs on the sleve of his trench coat, pulling the older man further into the parlor. Castiel chuckles as his son practically drags him toward the counter to order.

   "I'm right behind you, Daniel," the young father laughs. He reaches forward and, placing his hands under Daniel's arms, plucks his son from the glossy tiled floor of the pizza and ice cream shop. He sits his seven year old down on a nearby 50s themed bar stool and places one hand on his hip while the other ruffles Daniel's messy dark hair.

   "Da-ad," the child whines. When Castiel's hand moves from Daniel's hair, the boy reaches up to "fix" what his father mussed up. Castiel just smiles down at his son, who, after playing with his hair -and honestly just messing it up further- smiles back.

   Softly, with love for his son making his blue eyes shine and his skin glow, Castiel asks his son, "What do you want to eat, Busy Bee?" Daniel gives a 'hmm' as he thinks, his face scrunched up into an adorably contomplative position. Cas can't help but hug his son close to him, causing Daniel to laugh loudly. 

   "Dad?" Daniel asks once he's done laughing. Cas gives a hum to show he's listening before Daniel continues. "Can we get extra cheese with black olives?"

   "Of course, Busy Bee. Whatever you want." Castiel smiles again before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet. As he digs through it, he asks, "Vanilla ice cream?" Daniel nods quickly before yelling out, "With rainbow and chocolate sprinkles, please!" 

   As Castiel begins to head for the front counter, he hands Daniel a single dime. Daniel grins and jumps up and down before running to the other side of the parlor, yelling his thanks back at his Dad. Castiel shakes his head fondly before he walks up to the counter to ask for his and his son's order.

   Daniel runs for the jukebox, hand tightly gripping the dime his father handed him. The jukebox is one of the main reasons they come here, or at least it is for Daniel. On the jukebox is his favorite song, a song his Dad sings to him when he's sick. The Beatles performed it  _okay_ , but Daniel prefers it when sung by his father. He grins as he approaches the colorful old music player and slips in his dime. He presses his face against the glass that shows what song is what number, and he looks for his song. Of course, he knows what the number is, but he still likes to see the name. He giggles when he finds what he's looking for;  _Hey Jude_ by The Beatles. Number four, his all time favorite number. He grins before reaching on his tiptoes (he's a little small for his age) and right before he presses the button, he closes his eyes tightly. And he makes a wish.

    _I wish I could meet_ him,  _just once._

As soon as he's finished, his eyes open and he pushes the button marked with a '4'.

   A short pause, and then  _Hey Jude_ is playing, flowing gently through the parlor. Daniel steps back and stumbles a bit, his feet feeling just the smallest bit numb from being in tiptoe position for as long as they were. He probably would have fallen flat on his bottom if he hadn't smacked face first into a pair of legs. He pushes himself back, his face red and his glasses askew. As he fixes his black rimmed glasses, he hastily apologizes to whoever he hit with his face.

   "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, mister!" He says with a blush once he has his glasses on straight again. The man he bumped into only chuckles and smiles down at the boy.

   "It's alright, no harm done, kid."

   Daniel gives a huff and crosses his arms, previous embarrassment gone from his face, now replaced with annoyance.

   "My name is not 'kid'. It's Daniel. The only person who has  _ever_ called me 'kid' was my uncle. And that's only because he didn't bother to learn my name until I was almost six." 

   The older man laughs, throwing back his head and closing his green eyes. He looks back down at Daniel and replies, "Yeah, uncles can be a pain. I work for mine. Crotchety old bastard, but I love 'im." The man ducks down in order to be at eye level with Daniel before he says in a serious tone, "But don't tell anyone that I said that." He stares at Daniel as if to intimidate him. But the boy holds his ground, staring right back through his glasses with large blue eyes. The man shakes his head before holding out his hand.

   "I'm Dean, by the way." Daniel looks at the hand warily before taking it in his own much smaller one. Dean smiles and tilts his head towards the jukebox, still playing The Beatles song and asks, "You pick the song?" Daniel gives a small smile and nods. Dean nods back before saying, "Yeah, it's one of my favorites. My Mom used to sing it to me when I was little. As a lullaby, you know," he places his hand on the jukebox after standing back up and smiles fondly. Daniel gives a large grin.

   "My Dad sings this to me as a lullaby too! When I'm sick and stuff, it makes me feel better." Dean nods and smiles at the boy again.

   "Your Dad sounds like a pretty cool guy," he says with a grin. Daniel nods vigorously, a bright smile on his face. When he stops, he pushes his glasses further up the bridge of his nose after they had slipped down.

   "My Dad is the best! He has to work a lot since it's just us, but whenever he doesn't work, he spends time with me!" Dean gives a puzzled look to the child in front of him.

   "Just you guys? What happened to your Mom?" Daniel shakes his head before he responds. "Don't got one. Never have. I  _should have_ two fathers, but I guess he left when my Dad found out I was gonna be born... He said my other dad was just scared, 'cause they were both so young." Daniel has a small frown on his face and he looks at the tiled floor, kicking at it with his foot.

   "That's a damn shame, kid. Sorry, I mean Daniel," Dean responds to the boys story before adding, "I'd kill to have a kid as awesome as you." Dean ruffles the boy's hair, getting a small laugh from him in response.

   "Thanks Dean." Daniel gives a sincere smile to the older man, who hums his acknowledgment.

   "I'm curious Daniel; you said your Dad was young when you were born, right?" Daniel gives a nod. "How young?" Daniel suddenly looks uneasy, and hesitates before giving a response.

   "Uncle Michael says I shouldn't tell anyone that, 'cause they'll think Dad is a bad person. Uncle Lucifer says people'll call him names; bad names that Dad said I'm not allowed to say 'til I'm older. And Anna said that Dad  _is_ all of those names... Uncle Gabriel said that they're just bein' jerks though. He says I should be proud of my Dad. And I am, I'm really proud, and I couldn't ask for a better Dad. I wouldn't want to... So, I guess, to answer your question, Dad was only sixteen when I was born." After his speech, Daniel looks up at Dean, giving him a look that's just daring Dean to say something even slightly off putting about his Dad.

   Dean, however, is too busy processing Daniel's information to notice the boy's glare. 

    _Michael... Lucifer... Anna... Gabriel... Only sixteen... Dark hair... Blue eyes... **That**_ **stare!**

   Dean kneels in front of Daniel again, and looks,  _really_ looks at the child in front of him. Looking closer, Dean sees his own freckles reflected on the young boy in front of him. He sees his nose, and his chin. Perhaps not the same color, Daniel's eyes hold the same shape as Dean's, sockets molding blue the same way they mold green. And as if sensing Dean's small remaining amount of doubt, Daniel tilts his head to the side and gives the adult a curious stare. _  
_

All previous doubt is gone from Dean's mind. Well... Fuck.

   Dean reels back in his very sudden realization of who this child is. A gasp he tries to contain slips past his lips, along with a name he hasn't spoken in years.

   "Cas," he breathes out. The name feels warm on his tounge, comfortable as it slips between his lips. The name feels like  _home_ and Dean certainly hadn't been expecting that reaction from himself.

   Daniel's eyes widen and his head straightens as he stares at Dean, confused and wondering if he'd heard correctly.

   "How do you know my Dad's name...?" The child asks aloud. 

   "I-I'm...It's-- I don't..." the man stutters out. What the hell is he supposed to say? 'Oh, hi. I'm your other Dad. You know, the one who left before you were born and never bothered to try and contact you? It's nice to meet you.'? Of fucking course not! But shit, if Dean doesn't have a son. A son who's smart, and polite, and healthy and perfect. Someone should really reinforce the whole don't-talk-to-strangers thing, but other than that, his kid seems great. But... He can't say anything, and he certainly can't talk to Cas... Dean sighs.

   One day, maybe, but not today.

   "Dean--?" Daniel starts, but is interrupted.

   "Daniel? It's time to go, sweetheart," his father's voice carries throughout the parlor and is easily heard from where Daniel is at the jukebox. Daniel knows his father is waiting by the door, their orders sitting in his arms. Where his Dad was standing, Daniel knew he couldn't see him. The boy looks at Dean and fiddles with his glasses before speaking.

   "I've, uhm, I gotta go. It was nice talking to you, Dean," he smiles at the man in front of him, who is too busy to notice while he stares off in the distance. Daniel isn't worried, his Dad does that sometimes too. So he begins to walk towards the door, where his Dad waits patiently.

    _No!_ A voice inside of Dean's head screams at him.  _Please, don't let him leave! Just a few more minutes! A few more questions! What's his favorite color? His favorite number? His favorite subject in school? When's his birthday, for God's sake?! Please, bring my son back!_ Four tears slipped from Dean's emerald eyes. He swept them away quickly and stood just as fast. However, the twenty four year old walked slowly towards the nearest window that faced the street. 

   He sees who he can only assume is Castiel, with his tan trench coat and messy hair, holding the hand of Daniel. He watches their backs as they pause at the curb, Castiel looking both ways before he leads his son - _their son_ his mind unhelpfully supplies- across the wet street, towards an old, beat up grey Honda. Castiel has his back to the window the entire time, as does Daniel.

   Dean watches on, self-loathing and regret filling his heart. Daniel goes around the back of the car as Castiel stays on the side facing the street. The older male unlocks the car doors, waiting for Daniel to get in before entering himself. Daniel is standing on the passenger side of the car facing the sidewalk, about to open the door until he notices Dean watching them. The boy gives a soft smile and waves at Dean while his Dad is watching the traffic, making sure there are no cars before he is able to slip into the driver's seat.

   Dean smiles back, and gives a sad wave. Before he can even blink, Daniel is in the car and so is Castiel. The engine is starting and the car pulls away. Dean watches all the while as they drive away. At the end of the street, the car pauses, waiting for a woman pushing a stroller to cross. Dean can still see the back of Daniel's head through the back windshield. The boy turns around and they lock eyes, blue meeting green, one final time before the car turns and Dean is unable to watch them leave anymore. He is unable to watch them leave because they're gone.

    _At least,_ Dean thinks,  _at least I know his name. My son. Daniel._

   Daniel, whom Dean may never see again. Daniel, whom Dean will never watch grow up. Daniel, whom Dean lost. Again.

   And not just his son, but Castiel as well. Dean should have realized sooner just how much Cas meant to him. Should have realized that he  _loved_ him. And meeting Daniel, meeting  _their son_? It's only managed to make Dean realize just how much he loved Cas. Hell, he  _still_ loves Cas. Now more than ever. 

   But when Fate gave him a chance to be with Cas, he pushed his best friend away. Now, after being given his second chance and crushing it beneath his boot, Dean finally sees how dense he's been.

   He finally sees what he's lost.

   The family he gave up on before he even gave them a chance.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope everyone liked it! Just a little somethin' somethin' I posted in between chapters of So We Meet Again :D This is shorter then I thought it would be. But then again, it wasn't meant to be super long either :D
> 
> Have another idea for me for this 'verse that you'd like to see? Pop it in a comment! It doesn't have to be related to this one shot, or any others in this 'verse. It basically only has to be related to the first part of the series :)
> 
> Find any errors? Tell me in a comment and I'll get rid of or fix whatever necessary :)
> 
> Have a lovely rest of your day/night!
> 
> Kudos/comments are love <3


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